Thursday, April 3, 2014

Thursday Thought -- April 3, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty.” (Zechariah 7:11-13)

They prayed. They asked for God's help, but it was as if God was deaf. God did not respond to their cry to Him for help. Their prayers went unanswered.

There are a number of reasons for unanswered prayer. Sometimes what we are asking for is not good for us and God, who is a loving Father, will not give us gifts that will hurt us.

Sometimes the timing is wrong, God waits to answer until it is the right time.

Sometimes there are lessons to be learned from a “no” or a “wait” and God will not give us what we ask for because He wants us to learn those lessons.

Sometimes God’s answer is not about us at all, it’s about what God wants to accomplish through us.

And there are times when God does not answer our cries because we have not listened to Him.

The last reason was the case in Zechariah’s day. The people of Judah had ignored God and turned a deaf ear toward what He asked them to do. So, when they cried for help, God turned a deaf ear to them. They were still not of a mind to listen to God, they just wanted Him to listen to them. God was not willing to be their servant, heeding their cry when they ignored His.

God isn’t willing to be our servant, either. His desire is that we listen to His voice and His direction. At times, when we refuse to listen to Him, He refuses to listen to us.

His, by Grace,


Steve

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